Dovetail



W. STUTSON Jan. l0, 1933.

DOVETAIL Filed Aug. 17, 1931 lllllllllllliillllb lil lli lllll IUQIIJIIJIIIIIII.

Patented dan. 1Q, 1933 WILLIS STUTSON, 0F CHICAGO,4 ILLNOIS DOVETAIL Application filed August 17, 1931. Serial No. 557,519.

My invention relates to dovetails for automobile door construction.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a dovetail construction in which the wear-resisting parts have anti-friction qualities.

A further object is to provide a dovetail construction which will be inexpensive to manufacture durable and efficient in use.

A further object is to provide such a construction which is made up of relatively few parts.

A further object is to provide such a construct-ion in which a single resilient member provides cushioning means for the upper and lower wear-resisting members.

A further object is to provide such a construction in which the projecting member of the dovetail is provided with a pocket to receive the yieldingly mounted wear resisting members.

Further objects will appear from the description and claim.

ln the drawing7 in which several forms of my invention are shown:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the receiving portion of the dovetail;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the projecting portion of the dovetail;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 8 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 1- 1i of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the wearresisting blocks and cushioning member;

Fig. 6 is a section similar to the section of Aig. 3 showing a modified form of pocket- 1 eceiving member;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the block of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a section similar to that of Fig. 4, showing a diderent form of cushioning member and wear-resisting block.

Referring to the drawing in detail, and

.first to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the construction shown therein comprises a receiving member 1 which may be either on the edge of the door post or on the door frame and a projecting device 2 which may be either on the edge of the post or the edge of the door. As shown, it is on the edge of the door.

The receiving construction involves a cutout3 in the sheet material of the edge of the door or post, as the case may be, to enable the projecting member 2 to enter and engage the upper and lower engaging portions 4 and 5 of `the sheet metal boX 6 secured to the up- 55 right 10. If desired, the vupper and lower' engaging portions might be formed as portions struck in from the material of the upright itself in forming the entering opening.

T he proj ectingv device comprises a sheet metal pocket 7 having upper and lower securing flanges 8 and 9 which may be secured to the upright 10 in any suitablemanner, as by means or' screws or spotwelding. The pocket 7 is provided with upper and lower openings 65 11 and 12, through which the engaging portions 13 and 14 of the wear-resisting blocks l5 and 16 project. These blocks are yieldingly held in operative engagcable position by means of a centrally positioned block 17 of cushioning material, as rubber, or the like. It will be seen that this construction enables a single piece of cushioning material to serve both for the upper and lower wear-resisting blocks. These blocks maybe madeof a material which will have anti-friction properties, such as thermo-plastic material or oilimpregnated material or anti-friction metal.

TheA pocket member itself may be formed of sheet material which may be enameled or nichel plated, as desired. As the wear-resisting blocks if formed of thermo-plastic material-are of uniform color throughout, any wear on these blocks will not result in any deterioration in appearance. l.

In use, when the projecting member enters the receiving member, the wear-resisting blocks will engage the wear plates 4 and 5 or portions of the receiving member and the door will thus be centered or positioned with respect to the post in a yielding manner, the central cushioning member being compressed in the manner and to the extent necessitated by the relation of the door with respect to the post.

The ronstruction shown in Figs. 6 and 7 is substantially that just described except that the receiving member is offset outwardly to a slight extent, as indicated at 18 and 19, so that the wear-resisting plate or portion eX- tends outwardly substantially iush with the outer surface of the upright 20, and the wearresisting blocks 15 and l-also are broadened laterally, as indicated at 21, so as to extend inwardly to a position substantially ilush with the outer face of the outside of the pocket portion of the projecting member.

The construction shown in Fig. 8 is substantially that shown in Fig. 4 except that the cushioning member 17 is made wedgeshaped so that its outer portion is thicker than its inner portion, the wear blocks 15 and 16 themselves being made correspondingly thinner. This enables a thicker piece of rubber to be used which may increase the extent to which the wear-resisting blocks may yield under pressure.

It may sometimes be desirable to make the slope oi? the plates 5 and 6 slightly less than the slope of the wear portions 13 and 14, thus putting a greater ycompression on the outer thicker portion of the rubber block than on the thin inner portion.A 'i

Further modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and I desire, therefore, to be limited only by the prior art and the scope of. the appended claim.

, Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A- projecting dovetail construction for use with a recessed receiving construction, comprising a projecting metal pocket having upper and lower openings therein, a cushioning wear-resisting construction comprising upper and lower wear-resisting devices,ieach having a portion retained in said pocket, and a wear resisting portion extending through said opening for engaging the receiving device, cushioning means between-said wear-resisting devicesior yieldingly holding said wear-resisting portions in engaging position, and means outside the space between the wear-resisting devices for securing the d'ovetail construction to a support whereby the entire body of the cushioning means between the wear-resisting devices acts as a cushion in transmitting .pressure from one wear-resisting device to the other.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

WILLIS STUTSON. 

